Switch Best-Selling Console in the US in December, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Tops Charts - Sales
by William D'Angelo , posted on 01 February 2020 / 3,851 Views
The Nintendo Switch was the best-selling console in the US in December 2019 and remains the best-selling console for 2019, according to figures from NPD.
Overall spending on hardware dropped 17 percent year-on-year to $973 million, while spending on software dropped 13 percent to $2,252 million. Overall spending on video games fell 15 percent to $2.98 billion.
"December 2019 tracked spending across video game hardware, software, accessories, and game cards totaled $3.0 billion, falling 15 percent when compared to a year ago," NPD analyst Mat Piscatella said. "Full year tracked spending declined 13 percent when compared to 2018, to $14.6 billion."
"Dollar sales of tracked video game software declined 13% in December compared to a year ago, to $1.1 billion, while annual sales dropped 9 percent to $6.6 billion," said Piscatella. "Declines were experienced across all platforms in December, while Switch was the only platform with gains for the year."
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare was the best-selling game in the US in December, which is its third month in a row at the top of the charts.
"Call of Duty: Modern Warfare was the best-selling game in the U.S. for the third consecutive month since its October launch," said Piscatella. "And it finishes 2019 as the best-selling game of the year. This is the 11th consecutive year that Call of Duty has been the best-selling franchise."
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order remains in second place and is already the best-selling game from Respawn Entertainment.
"Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order repeats as the second best-selling game of the month," said Piscatella. "And it finishes 2019 as the year’s sixth best-selling title. With only two months in market, Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order becomes Respawn Entertainment’s best-selling game of all-time in terms of dollar sales."
MLB The Show 19 is now the best-selling baseball game in US history. Sony plans to bring the franchise to other platforms starting with MLB The Show 21.
"MLB The Show 19 is now the best-selling baseball genre game in U.S. history, said Piscatella. Lifetime full-game dollar sales of MLB The Show 19 have now surpassed those of MVP Baseball 2004, which originally released in March 2004."
Half of the top 20 best-selling games in December 2019 were published by Nintendo. "Luigi’s Mansion 3 finished as December’s fifth best-selling title overall, while ending 2019 as the fourth best-selling title of the year on Nintendo Switch," said Piscatella.
Here are the top 20 best-selling games in terms of dollars:
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2019
- Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
- Madden NFL 20
- NBA 2K20
- Luigi’s Mansion 3*
- Pokemon Sword*
- Mario Kart 8*
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
- Pokemon Shield*
- Minecraft#
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Red Dead Redemption II
- FIFA 20
- Just Dance 2020
- Need for Speed: Heat
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
- The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening*
- New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe*
- Super Mario Party*
- Ring Fit Adventure
*Doesn’t include digital
#Only includes digital on Xbox and PlayStation
^Steam sales not included
Here are the lists of top 10 selling games by platform for the month:
Top 10 best-selling Xbox One games for December
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2019
- NBA 2K20
- Madden NFL 20
- Borderlands 3
- Mortal Kombat 11
- Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
- Kingdom Hearts III
- Tom Clancy’s The Division 2
- Mario Kart 8*
Top 10 best-selling PlayStation 4 games for December
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2019
- Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
- Madden NFL 20
- NBA 2K20
- Need for Speed: Heat
- Grand Theft Auto V
- FIFA 20
- Death Stranding
- Marvel’s Spider-Man
- The Outer Worlds
Top 10 best-selling Nintendo Switch games for December
- Luigi’s Mansion 3*
- Pokemon Sword*
- Mario Kart 8*
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
- Pokemon Shield*
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
- The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening*
- New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe*
- Super Mario Party*
- Ring Fit Adventure
Top 10 best-selling Nintendo 3DS games for December
- Pokemon: Ultra Sun*
- Pokemon: Ultra Moon*
- Super Smash Bros.*
- Mario Kart 7*
- Super Mario 3D Land*
- Super Mario Maker*
- Luigi’s Mansion*
- Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon*
- Minecraft*
- The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D*
Thanks VentureBeat.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
